CCTV FOLLIES 12.03 Gold and silver in the hills...
News mostly fresh out of the can, but some of the images are pretty.
-Nation mourns, Foreigners send condolences
-China is beautiful. It's an environmental wonderland
-Russia pipeline penetrates Yangtze
-Russia makes war
Chinese remember Jiang at home...
Foreign leaders phone it in.
(foreigners not invited to funeral ceremonies)
The authoritative flagship news program devotes the middle section entirely to pretty pictures.
Airing canned news gives a break to tired staffers overworked from covering, and covering up, the news of recent days.
Someone high up at CCTV likes birds.
Remember, CCTV's surname is "party"
It's the mouth of the party.
Perhaps the nature shots are meant as palette cleanser for a populace weary and wary of real news.
It's like a page out of "China Reconstructs"
Clean, obedient children draw beautiful pictures of a pristine land.
Even the cities are green, sort of.
Sure, Beijing has a lot of buildings and few trees, but don't forget, it has the world's biggest Bird's Nest.
And don't forget the Yellow River. It's like a coiled dragon. Properly tamed, as it is under Xi, it is capable of bestowing the mandate of heaven.
Autumn mists, autumn leaves.
Pandas and tigers at play.
It's an ecological wonderland, except maybe for the sheep.
Lamb kebabs are popular in Beijing
And speaking of harmony with nature, taming those wild rivers really makes for a very wonderful kind of synergy between man and nature.
(environmental scientists might disagree, but I digress)
Adding to China's green vision of itself are cargo ships, trains, planes and more trains.
True, nature must be subject to some sacrifices, but Chairman Xi Jinping has solved the age-old conundrum of development.
"Green water and green mountains are mountains of gold and silver" (TM)
Indeed
The pictures speak for themselves...
Even when the juxtapositions don't make much sense.
And now, in other breaking stories...
The spirit of the 20th party congress is being realized at the local level!
You see, as we learned from the report of the 20th, just as Xi Jinping says....
Shanghai? Wasn't there some commotion there recently?
Yes there was. Young people are flocking to indoctrination sessions to learn about Xi's teachings.
The 20th Party Congress, a gift that keeps on giving.
We are guided by the spirit of the 20th, blah, blah blah
As party secretary Xi says...blah, blah, blah
Even the Macao casino magnates and their staffers are getting in on the act. An opulent ballroom is used for an indoctrination session.
And then, in what perhaps constitutes the first genuine news story of the day. Shenzhou 15 is docked with the Tiangong space station.
And another small news item.
The latest Covid stats.
Lots of confusion about the new policy, but you won't hear it here.
And the uplifting news of learning that the new Sino-Russia gas pipeline has penetrated China's south via a massive tunnel dug under the Yangtze River.
So green...
During this time of trouble, the restive populace is sure to be calmed by this new publication highlighting Xi Jinping's penetrating insights into high-level science
Yet another publication by the world's greatest freelance writer:
Xi Jinping Thought on Strong Military
Why read it once when you can read it three times?
The next ten minutes is devoted to some reassuring, inspirational shots of Xi Jinping who has total control of the military and wants the world to know it.
Patrick Chovanec, a consultant at Silvercrest Asset Mgmt has done some China virtue-signaling by compiling photos about the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations, an event he evidently knows little about.
(a thread)
To do this, he compiled over a dozen of my photos on his blog , and when I brought this to his attention, he made no effort to credit the photos or reveal where he got them from. patrickchovanec.com/about/
Some of the photos now have a life of their own on the internet, including the above photo, (caption by Chovanec) which has been used by conspiratorial pro-China bloggers as proof of a "color revolution."
;-)
A political bible with quasi-religious overtones is unveiled like a holy relic.
A book by Xi Jinping! In English!
CCTV news shows the entire table of contents
Wow. It sure looks like a gripping read. Find a comfy chair, put the kettle on and settle for a long enlightening read.
CCTV FOLLIES: 5.26
China state TV doubles down on dubious Russia claims about "secret" US bio-labs in Ukraine.
(from May 26 Xinwen Lianbo)
Anchor Li Zimeng couches the accusations in the language of Russia's Defense Ministry, but the CCTV editors like the story enough for it to get major airtime.
The Russia Defense Ministry, solid architectural monolith that it is, is portrayed as a presumably authoritative source.
Read all about it! Top of the news! Yet another much-heralded publication by the indefatigable freelance writer Xi Jinping, whose excessive narcissism is nicely balanced with pictures of himself.
Up next, a nostalgic look back to 2017 when this man was laying the foundation of today's greatness.
Among many, many other incredible, almost super-human accomplishments, he created a city out of dust.